Loch im Glas

Katharina Höglinger’s visual worlds unfold in layers. They combine the figurative and the abstract, different materials and forms, vibrant colors, text fragments, and numbers. They invite viewers to linger and discover ever-new details. The unique tension in her work arises from the interplay of a formal interest in the conditions of painting, subtle humor, and critical reflection. Amid what appear to be portraits, everyday objects, and abstract layers of color, cute animals – most notably a cheerful poodle – appear time and again. Recurring figures serve as stand-ins. They establish connections to autobiographical moments while simultaneously eluding direct interpretation.

Katharina Höglinger addresses the question of how painting can be presented and experienced in the aquarium-like space of the MQ Art Box through several firsts inher artistic practice: For the first time, she is creating works specifically for a spatial installation and using glass as a painting surface. She is also translating small-format textile works featuring cuts and holes into large-scale formats for the first time. In addition, she incorporates found objects and repurposes the wooden walls from the previous MQ Art Box installation as display surfaces. The reused material serves as a tongue-in-cheek commentary on the supposed neutrality of the white exhibition space – or the so-called white cube.

Many of Katharina Höglinger’s works have humorous and poetic titles. For the MQ Art Box, she has chosen Loch im Glas (Hole in the Glass). The title refers to the glass exhibition space, has an almost slapstick-like quality, and opens up further associations: A hole in the glass is both an opening and a breach. It makes a barrier permeable, allows for a clear view, and at the same time evokes notions of piercing, seeping through, and loss. Straddling the line between intention and accident, it becomes the starting point for an installation that reflects on the conditions of painting and the social circumstances surrounding art production and perception.

The hole in the glass can also be interpreted as a metaphor for the glass ceiling: for invisible barriers and the attempt to break through them. Katharina Höglinger’s works, however, defy a clear resolution. Somewhere between critical analysis and playful resistance, cute little animals and the dissection of art-historical poses, a style of painting emerges that does not need to resolve its ambivalences.
It is allowed to remain permeable.

Curator: Astrid Peterle

Exhibition management: Andreas Kurz

Katharina Höglinger lives and works in Vienna. She studied painting and graphic arts at the University of Arts Linz and art theory at the Weißensee Academy of Art in Berlin as part of an exchange scholarship. She has been teaching at the University of Arts Linz since 2019. She has worked as a tutor and workshop leader at the Royal Academy in London, the Academy of Fine Arts Vienna, and the University of Applied Arts Vienna. Exhibitions and project participations include, among others, Galerie Wonnerth Dejaco in Vienna, the Royal Academy in London, Halle für Kunst Steiermark / Mocab in Belgrade, Laurenz Space in Vienna, Sebastian Gladstone Gallery in New York, Quadrado Azul in Lisbon, and Halle für Kunst in Lüneburg.

www.katharinahoeglinger.com